Cultural intelligence of expatriate workers: a systematic review

Expatriation for work presents various challenges before departure, during expatriation, and upon return to one’s home country. These challenges are why learning to manage cultural differences is a vital skill for expatriate managers and professionals, and hiring managers. Cultural intelligence (CQ) has been the subject of much research over the last decade. The present systematic review contributes to the literature on expatriate worker CQ by collecting and analyzing 97 empirical articles on the subject. Findings point to five core elements associated with CQ and five avenues for future research. Ultimately, the study results show that CQ positively affects many outcomes during expatriation.